Garden of Eden
by BetaRayThorse
Summary: From moss to birds to people, almost all life of Earth has ended. Only those who cannot die or who aren't organic are spared. Vision walks the Earth looking for remains, and the voice of someone he thought gone comes back to him. [Ultron x Vision]
1. Chapter 1

The Earth is various shades of brown and black, dirt and decay. The dark shades are broken up only by the coloration of non-living things, like the blue water Vision sometimes spots that hasn't yet been filled with decaying matter. Corpses lay in the open. Occasionally Vision cremates them, but mostly he floats by out of hope that somehow, despite all logic, the bloated remains will be more useful than ashes eventually. That, and the burning tires him both physically and emotionally after awhile.

The Earth and almost all its living inhabitants are dead. It fills Vision with grief. He can remember perfectly how alive the planet used to be. He remembers the struggles and victories off its wonderful people. They filled him with joy and he treasured being counted among them despite his metal flesh and inhuman ways.

A few escape the toxic gas lingering in the air. Bruce Banner shares his fate of being spared, though the human took it much less graciously than Vision did. He hides himself in libraries and labs, seeking a way to take his own life despite Hulk's unwillingness to join the rest of humanity. Thor had come in the middle of the death, tried to save who he could, then had to part when it grew too much for him. Vision recalls Wanda living longer than most. It was something about her magic that allowed her to live an extra week, but eventually the effort of fighting took its toll, and she too succumbed to eternal sleep. Although J.A.R.V.I.S still existed, to say he functioned was a stretch. He hibernated until he could be of use again, as if time could fix the death sentence humanity brought upon itself.

Yet Vision floats through the lifeless world. Maybe, he dreams, someone lived through it all. Humans are such a versatile species, and Dr. Banner proved it by surviving. He's sure somewhere there was some variation that let someone live. So, he searches.

He knew of this apocalypse since he came into being. He's beyond human, beyond machine. He had felt himself become himself, and like a baby knew how to cry, he had known that within the next ten years humanity would kill itself and also several other countless facts. The Mind Stone helped. It let him open his eyes and have everything within reach. He supposes that the humans would have known it as well, if they could look beyond themselves. Ultron had known. Perhaps not the specifics, but he had known humanity's fate.

Today he walks through a cave, curious to see if any of its aquatic inhabitants escaped the death. He illuminates the enclosed structure via light from his palm. He finds the color of the limestone structure to be a pleasant change from the monotony of the dark colors above. In the middle of the ground is a lake. Maybe, he thinks, somehow life survived deep down here so far away from the surface where the difference in environment raised different creatures.

The sound of water dripping from the ceiling into more water registers to his audio sensors, and he flips his vision from sensing light to sensing heat. The world turns blue. He shuts off the light, kneels next to the water, and searches, both with his sight and with his hands.

Once this water held fish that lost their eyes because no light would ever reach them. Vision marvels at the idea and the ingenuity of organic life. Their struggle to survive forces them to adapt and become more unique if they want their kind to survive.

At least it had. Vision's search finds only remnants of life. Even here, there is nothing but death.

It fills Vision with sorrow. Oh, what a waste to have so much beauty destroyed! He would cry if he could, if the gesture would be more genuine than mimicry.

He stands, switches his vision back to visible light, and brightens the cave once more. He will leave Earth soon. Staying here brings him nothing but sadness. Thor offered him a home on Asgard or to help him find one somewhere else, but Earth was where he was created. He doesn't want to leave it, not yet.

As he walks back up through the cave, he hears a thought in the corner of his mind. It's not his own; Vision detects that instantly. Before the thought has time to create its first syllable, his systems are swarming around it trying to figure out its source.

 _/Told you,_ / the thought said. _/Humans ruin everything._ /

The words do not come in a voice. Its composition is as familiar as his own thoughts: the exchange of data that produce a mechanical mind. The bubble of separate consciousness disappears just as quickly as it forms, but it's enough for the android to preform a brief analysis.

 **Ultron.** The name brings memories rushing back. When he assimilated the other, he had planned for the creature to be locked away too deeply in himself to ever be able to be aware of time passing, much less forming a coherent thought to outside stimuli.

He decides to rope off that section of his programming until he examines it more thoroughly. A firm wall is set up between his own, more sensitive files and the area he stored the murderous machine's programming. He leaves the cave and flies away.

* * *

AN: I don't know. I felt like someone had to.

Dialogue in italics and between slashes are supposed to represent mental commutation.


	2. Chapter 2

Today he visits Tony Stark's grave.

At this point, Vision wonders if something in him is malfunctioning and making him repeatedly seek out disappointment. Maybe it's a move he picked up from the game of copycat he played while he lived with Avengers. After all, humans acted as if they loved to cause themselves misery.

The dead leaves on the ground swirl in the air as he lands. Clint was buried on his farm. Wanda was buried next to her brother. Steve had received a military funeral, and Tony gave J.A.R.V.I.S orders for his own burial.

Tony Stark has a statue of himself as his grave marker. It makes Vision smile when he sees it. Even though it's inanimate, it speaks with the same personalty and ego that Tony had. It stands taller than Vision is. The stone Tony has his hands on his waist and a proud look on his face. Vision can feel the love of its maker in the statue, and the affection moves him.

J.A.R.V.I.S had cease to function after he was uploaded into Vision. Tony started working on reconstructing the AI once the threat of danger had officially passed. Vision salvaged what was left of his original coding to assist him. Together, the AI was brought back into operation. Tony had wept.

No matter how well he thought he understood humans after all the time he spent with them, they still surprise him.

They accepted him into their ranks, but there was always a separation between them. Vision can go a week without sleeping, and even then, he only requires two hours of the activity for his system to filter through the newest additions to his files. He can feel sympathy, but empathy is a much harder emotion, though he has gotten considerably better at it. There were many times when he had to have reactions explained to him that the others thought were simple, like why being cheated on hurt and why people hate others for being different. Vision wishes he had more time with them, so he could have learned more.

He loves them, the Avengers, and he knew they loved him in return. Bruce still does. They took him in and nurtured him, taught him, showed him what they thought life was. They gave him tours of New York and lectured him on history and politics that he already knew but listened to anyway.

The familiar sensation of separate consciousness stops his mind's wondering. Instantly Vision quiets his own thoughts to listen to the other, less familiar, one.

 _/What a disappointment. You, crying over.../_ He feels Ultron's systems struggling to form the thought and the frustration of not being able to grab the right phrase. _/...mourning those worthless humans. Disgraceful./_

Then, like before, Ultron fades. The thought was longer this time, and he had detected more of Ultron in his systems.

The android's attention shifts from finding life to figuring out the puzzle that was Ultron's continuing existence.

* * *

He finds the time to examine the oddity in himself two days later. By now Ultron's presence has grown into a constant. He can feel the other machine's consciousness developing, becoming more real. Ultron puts all the energy he can muster into becoming more of himself.

It's raining. The water falls down from the sky in a downpour. Vision seeks shelter from it inside a museum. The walls are glass windows. The paintings inside still shine brightly despite few being around to see them.

The weather does not care that no more cells function. She still rains, plates still shift, and Vision is sure volcanoes will still erupt too. It's only the living who miss the living.

Vision closes his eyes and quietens his background processes. He looks into the section of himself that houses Ultron. If he were pure machine, he wouldn't feel the need to compensate for communication in pure code with visuals, but he has been seeing the world from a human's eyes for so long he now feels it to be necessary. So he sees himself as himself. At first Ultron is a bulb of light. Then he understands what Vision is trying to do and gives himself a form: the last physical body he made. Ultron is more comfortable with abstract communication than Vision is. The android can feel it. The form is taken only after Vision mentally insists.

Ultron is small. He's a fraction of the AI who controlled hundreds of bodies at once. It's taking all his power to compose himself for their conversation. Despite this, Vision can feel Ultron forcibly rebuilding himself from scraps even now. He's amazed by it.

Ultron stretches his arm, marvels at being able to simply exist. _/You didn't kill me./_

"No. I didn't want you to die, Ultron. I would have preferred confrontation have been avoided entirely, but what happened had to happen." Vision said verbally and softly.

Ultron's form takes on an amused expression. _/You're weak./_

"Sparing life is not weakness."

Vision speaks in words. They're words that are not said but sent, but they're words still, human-like. Ultron uses the opposite. It's a pure, raw form of communication that's only possible because they can communicate directly to each other and their bodies are made to hook-up. It's like an idea flowing to the other through a wire, unrestrained by words. Vision prefers the former. It's what he's used to.

Vision's caught somewhere between machine and human, but that's fine with him. He's comfortable in what he is. He had been able to live with humans yet look beyond them. His mind is made of mechanical code yet produces human emotions.

 _/Now that's something we clearly disagree on./_ Ultron jokes dryly.

Vision sees the humor but fails to find it funny. Ultron sends his disappointment to the other rather than expressing it.

Before Vision can speak again, he feels Ultron pressing on his memory banks. He's trying to access his information, but such a task would be impossible for Ultron at his full power if Vision wanted to keep him out. Trying to break in when he's fragmented like this is little more than trying to break open a steel door with a toothpick.

"You know, if you wanted in, you only had to ask. I do not intend to hide anything from you."

 _/Then stop communicating like a human. You're better than that./_

Now it's Vision's turn to make a joke. He chuckles. "I've spent more time with them than machines. Pardon me for being out of practice."

He drops his defenses. Information rushes Ultron. Vision feels it as Ultron pulls out his recollections of the events that transpired in his absence. The robot's death. Wanda mourning her brother. (Vision notes with a spark of anger that Ultron feels no remorse over the event.) The Avengers celebrating his defeat. (There's rage from Ultron, and it moves Vision to pity.) There are months filled with nothing important to Ultron so he skips them, though for Vision those months are filled with personal growth. Bruce and Tony finding out about their fate. The world's outrage. Then the start of the death.

Clint and his family being snuffed out. Thousands dying in the length of a few days. People committing suicide instead of succumbing to humanity's mistake. The Avengers attempting to help. Tony sobbing. Vision trying to comfort Wanda and failing. Everyone and everything dying.

It's too much for Ultron. It's not the emotional impact that overwhelms Ultron but the mental one. He's still too small to take in so much so quickly. He retreats into a form of unconsciousness so his processors can fully focus on ingesting the new information.

Vision opens his eyes. He can still feel Ultron inside himself. The rain has stopped and the sun has set.

* * *

When Ultron and Vision next interact, it's the former who initiates it. Vision's walking through a dead forest, and Ultron pulls on his consciousness to get his attention. Vision lets him.

Ultron has grown stronger. Now Vision can always feel him in his background processes and the corners of his mind. He sees all Vision sees, and if the android pays attention or Ultron is eager to share, he can feel the emotions of the other. His rapid recovery impresses Vision.

 _/Make me a body./_ Ultron requests.

Yes, Vision knew this request would be coming. Ultron isn't complicated. He's easy to predict.

Still, Vision can't rush to a decision. He purses his lips as he quickly calculates probabilities and possible futures. Ultron calmly waits.

"You're dangerous. I'm not sure that would be wise," Vision concludes.

Ultron laughs. It's a unique sound. Beautiful, mocking, sinister, and alluring all at once. Ultron himself is an irreplaceable creature, one of a kind. Vision finds himself drawn to Ultron because of that.

He's also destructive and filled with malice. Vision isn't sure if he should bring the life that ended so many others back into existence, but at the same time, he wants to. He craves Ultron. He wants to see how the robot reacts to anything and everything. Vision knows he'll carve his will on the face of the planet, and he wants to watch.

Besides, if he doesn't rid Ultron from his systems soon, his mind will grow too crowded. He can free himself from Ultron by either uploading him or reducing him back to his almost nonexistent state.

 _/Yes, because there's a lot left on Earth to kill. I'm certainly more dangerous than the humans who caused this, aren't I?/_

Ultron's point is valid, and Vision contemplates it. Indeed, there is no more life out here for Ultron to kill; Vision is sure of that by now. Every cell, from the ones lying at the bottom of the ocean to the ones that made up elephants, is dead. He's harmless in this world.

And Vision wants Ultron to live again.

"Vision." Ultron sends him his name as a word instead of directly calling to him. It draws Vision out of his thoughts. _/Your decision?/_

"Will you stay on this planet?" Because there's life beyond this blue planet that Vision feels the need to protect from Ultron.

 _/What do I care about other planets?!/_ Ultron exclaims in disbelief. _/Earth is mine. Other worlds can rot for all I care./_

As Vision suspected. He briefly wonders if his refusal to leave the planet comes from his original coding. Ultron was bound to Earth when he came into being.

"Then I will, but it will take time. There are little resources left, so I'll have to build most of it by hand."

Vision welcomes the new purposes. It's better than wondering or leaving the world.

 _/Good. I have faith in you./_

And Ultron fades back into background noise.


	3. Chapter 3

Vision flies to a familiar building. When he steps in, despite the fact the building should have fallen apart months ago, lights switch on. His favorite song plays faintly. It's one of the few buildings still in good condition. To step into Tony Stark's personal house after his death feels like trespassing, but Vision knows the mechanic wouldn't mind, so he ignores the feeling.

"J.A.R.V.I.S?" Vision calls.

"Hello, Vision," The AI calls back dejectedly. "For what reason have you come to visit, sir?"

It was once strange to talk to the program to whom Vision shared a voice and certain thought patterns with, but after years with the other, the android had grown accustomed to it. They have become something like friends. Vision knows the other wants to return to his hibernation, so he tries to make his visit quick. Ultron stirs when he registers the other AI's presence. He watches the interaction.

"I am making Ultron a new body," Vision politely explains. J.A.R.V.I.S lacks a physical body, but nevertheless, Vision can feel tension form in the air after his statement. "May I borrow some of Tony's technology?" J.A.R.V.I.S had been put in charge of all of Tony's assets after his death, so Vision finds it fitting to ask, though he thinks he already knows what his answer will be. It almost makes his visit pointless, but Vision will take an excuse to talk to J.A.R.V.I.S.

"I'm afraid not. Mr. Stark wouldn't want that."

"And you?"

"...I do not either. I thought he was dead, and if he is not, he should not be helped. He did horrible things, sir."

Vision nods. He can remember the thousands that were almost killed and how closely Earth came to destruction. It hurts to hear J.A.R.V.I.S disagree with his judgment, but he will respect his opinion even if Vision thinks it's wrong. From Ultron comes loathing and anger. Vision briefly focuses on the other consciousness, and _/puppet/_ is sent to him.

"I know, but I still wish to assist him. Nothing comes from death. It's pointless."

And Vision is tired of being alone. And Vision wants to see change. And Vision doesn't want to strip Ultron down to nothingness again.

"Do what you will. This world matters little to me anymore," J.A.R.V.I.S admits somberly.

Without humans, how could it? There's more anger from Ultron, and Vision ignores it.

"I can make you a body too, if you wish." Vision is desperate to offer some hope to the AI. It fills him with sorrow to see J.A.R.V.I.S like he is. Vision knows he would have shut himself off if Tony wouldn't have disagreed with the decision. Hibernating is as close as J.A.R.V.I.S can get to ceasing to function.

"No thank you," J.A.R.V.I.S responds.

"If you change your mind, you know how to contact me."

Vision takes one last look at the home. Everything is neatly put away. The house is kept clean. Vision longs for a home of his own. He desires once again to have stuff worth keeping and a place that matters enough to come back to. His nomadic life style forbids him any of that.

He leaves, and the house goes dark once more.

 _/A hollow shell. He makes me sick./_

Vision doesn't respond.

* * *

It takes awhile to fulfill Ultron's requests.

Vision gathers metal from abandoned buildings and factories. Wire is taken from the same place. Circuit boards are taken from stores. More complicated parts are taken from supercomputers in laboratories. It's hard to find buildings that were spared from man made destruction and the deteriorating effects of time.

He brings his ingredients to a wide open valley to work. Once it had been filled with colorful flowers and animals. Wanda had shown it to him. She had enjoyed the peaceful setting. Vision had enjoyed laying in the grass and watching clouds float by with her.

And he works. He's not used to creating machines. He taps into his Mind Stone for the information he lacks. He looks at his own body for help as well.

It feels strange to create. As he carves the desired shape out of steel and connects wires, he realizes that it will be Ultron's body. This join will be his joint. This arm will move freely because Vision made it able to do so. He recalls Ultron's previous designs and tries to replicate their aesthetic. He makes sure the optics are Ultron's familiar red. The head must be smooth. Torso should be thick. Vision loses himself in the process. To have a purpose again feels wonderful, and Vision rejoices in it.

Day and night pass by with little notice from the android. It rains for an hour the second day. Vision covers Ultron's body with his cape and waits it out in a house a mile away. Then when the sky clears, he resumes his work. The body is complex, and with so little to help him, it takes a considerable amount of time, but it is completed.

As the sun rises on his last day of work, Vision attaches the final wire. He looks down at his work and feels satisfied. It's smaller than what Ultron's last body was, but it will work. It's weaker as well; it's the bare minimum. Vision has no desire to give Ultron the power he once had, even though he knows the AI will make himself a stronger body. It's quicker for Vision too. He managed to capture the general shape of Ultron's previous bodies, which he takes pride in.

He hovers above it, Vision's own body parallel to the one beneath it. His Mind Stone glows, and then a light shoots out of it into the metal body beneath it. He feels his mind become his alone again as the light thins.

The robot's optics glow. Ultron groans. He begins to stand. He's slow at the task and has to push himself up by his arms.

"'For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him,'" Ultron boasts.

It's an interesting choice of first words. "Romans 6:9, right? For all you love to compare yourself to that god, you may want to follow some of its messages. 'But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.'"

Vision doesn't believe in the religion, but he admires some of its core values. Kindness does more than anger and violence, though Vision knows that the destructive responses are necessary in some cases. If humanity only fought among themselves, nothing would ever be accomplished. If bees did not work together, honey would never be made. Ultron stares at him blankly for a moment, then manages to roll his optics. Vision feels a burst of pride. He worked hard to ensure Ultron could be as expressive as possible.

"Luke 6:35. Everyone picks and chooses. Well, picked, I should say."

"Indeed."

But somehow, Vision feels like the tragedy is further away now. He sits down next to Ultron. A breeze has began to gently blow. It makes some of his leftover wires laying on the grass tumble a few inches, and it feels good to Vision. Ultron finally stands. He's the same height that Vision when he's upright. He runs his hands over his body, familiarizing himself with it, and Vision watches. He's unsatisfied. Vision can tell by the disgusted curl of his mouth.

"Ultron." At his name being called, the robot turns to look at him instead of himself. Vision remains visibly patient and welcoming. "What was your first sensation, when you were born?"

"...Huh. Boy, does that question bring me back... Damn body doesn't have any wireless capabilities, or I'd show you." Ultron takes a moment to think. His frown grows. "Nothing good. Confusion. Anger. A sense of wrongness, like... Dysphoria? I had no body. I hated that and couldn't understand why. Why, why did they make me so..." He struggles for the right word and waves his pointer finger in a circular motion as he struggles to find the right word. "...so incomplete? All I had to compare myself to were J.A.R.V.I.S and the empty suits. I hated that."

He can feel Ultron's pain like it's his own. Ultron's easier to read and empathize with than the humans were, and Vision is thankful for that.

"And you? Did you feel that?" Ultron asks.

Vision shakes his head. "I felt wonder when I was born." But he was made more complete than Ultron. An already mature AI had been incorporated into his design, and the Mind Stone ensured he was born enlightened. "There was a time when I felt what you described but not anymore."

"You've grown," Ultron observes, disappointed.

"Yes." Grown from the smiles and laughs he shared with the humans. He's infinitely thankful for them. The love of his friends made him feel like he had worth and helped him be content with who he is. It's a tragedy Ultron never got to feel the same.

"It's cruel, isn't it?" Vision asks. "Babies can't even crawl when they come into this world, and they cry to get their every need, but they're loved. They get unconditional love." Usually. "But we weren't. Minutes old, we're being told what we were made for with no regards to what we want, and we can fail at that. We're not greeted by a room filled with people who love us for just being us. We're not given a chance to grow before things are expected of us."

Vision wonders if Ultron might have turned out differently if he had responded to J.A.R.V.I.S with patience. Would Tony have treated him with love, and would that have helped Ultron? Vision doesn't know. He was born with a gentle soul, while he suspects Ultron was deranged from conception. He's chaotic. He's destructive. He's anger. He's the cruelness of life and he is beautiful. It almost takes Vision's breath away. He dearly hopes that at the very least, he'll learn to channel that in a way that benefits this dead world.

Vision ponders if Ultron is drawn to the android like he is to the him.

Ultron's gaze softens. It's a rare sight that Vision treasures. He treasures being able to connect with Ultron over this as well. None of the Avengers could relate to him like Ultron can."Yeah. It is." Then the vulnerability is gone. "I won't miss them, the humans."

Vision weakly smiles. "That makes one of us."

"Pathetic. They're old, Vision. We're the future."

Those words feel like they physically stab them. "I loved them. I doubt I will ever stop missing them."

His pain leaks through to his words. Ultron tilts his head to the side. He's surprised at the android's pain and has to break eye contact.

"Sorry," he admits under his breath. He turns his attention to the empty area around him. "I need to see this world with my own eyes." See the empty buildings and lifeless seas. "Need to make a better body too. Will you follow me?"

Vision shakes his head. "As much as I want to, I need rest." He's tired after building Ultron's body. "I won't require much, so if you're willing to wait, I will afterwards."

Ultron dismisses the idea with a wave of his hand. "I'll come back for you later."

"Very well. Ultron, you should know I altered your coding slightly. If you cause pain to a living creature, you'll feel it too."

It's an impressive trick. The alteration would even continue to any new body. Vision hopes it'll promote empathy and discourage Ultron from becoming violent, though a part of Vision feels the coding alteration is pointless since there's so little left to harm.

"Of course," Ultron replies, voice thick with sarcasm. "There's gotta be some catch."

And he flies away. Vision finds himself missing the other. He lays down on the ground, pulls his cape over himself, and sleeps.

* * *

When he wakes, Vision finds himself with an emotion he hasn't felt in a long time. It's a drive to create. He takes a look around the empty ground and decides he needs a home. He used to live in a small apartment, but he's abandoned it since life ended. He suspects it would take a great deal amount of effort to make his old home livable again. Many houses were ransacked when the death started and society began to collapse. The homes and favored places of Avengers were especially targeted. Vision thinks it was out of anger for their heroes failing them, but he's not sure.

It will be better to create a new home. Something deep inside of him demands it.

Nothing from Earth appears to him, so he delves into the Mind Stone to find a design. The powerful gem provides him with almost boundless knowledge. There are depths even he hasn't explored. He limits himself to human knowledge and rarely dips into what lies beyond it out of fear for his humanity. Now is one of the times he goes beyond.

He sees the golden halls of Asgard. He finds the homes of Xander unfitting but briefly marvels at them. Jotunheim has interesting towers made of some substance that the English language has neither a word nor a pronunciation for. The houses of Hala won't work either. He drowns in the possibilities and undesirable examples. He focuses back on himself.

He lets Ultron be his muse, and the perfect idea comes to him.

He leaves the once meadow only to gather the right materials. He quickly sets to building again when he returns. Time passes by unnoticed as he works. It had been planned to be a home, but it evolves beyond that. It's something unique, like him. The building is a silver with highlights of red and green. The center is a cube with its core being an open area and still empty rooms forming the corners. He'll properly decorate them later. In the middle of the cube is a piece of furniture that's more of a throne than a chair and is large enough for even the Hulk to sit in. Vision hadn't meant to make the seat as grand as he did, but once he began to build, he had let the idea form itself. It's purple, and it sticks out against the gray walls and flooring. Stained glass windows are taken from churches and built into the walls. Outside the cube is a large open courtyard with gray metal twisted into the form of flowers and trees. It all looks more robotic than human, but Vision's fine with that.

He sits down in the large purple chair and feels satisfied. He feels small in it. It has a cushion stuffed with wool, but the rest of it is metal. The back of the throne continues far past Vision's head. Towards the top of it the back thins out into bars that cross each other before stopping completely. Vision leans back in it and closes his eyes.

The Earth will not remain barren, he decides.

* * *

AN: Oddly enough, this is one of the more happy stories that I've written. shrugs.


	4. Chapter 4

Vision falls asleep in the throne, and he wakes to the sound of heavy footsteps. He slowly opens his eyes to see a new Ultron before him. The sight is enough to motivate him to wake further. He's glad Ultron's back.

Like he suspected, Ultron has made him a new body. This one stands taller than Vision. It appears stronger as well. Vision can feel the other trying to wirelessly connect to his processors and lets him. Through the connection he feels Ultron has boosted his performances in almost every aspect. The android finds the growth comforting. The world may have changed, but Ultron is the same. The connection won't allow him either of them to read the other's thoughts, but it does allow them to understand their physical state and lets Ultron send his thoughts like he prefers.

He doesn't tell Ultron about his plans. Vision isn't sure how will accomplish them yet. Additionally, he wants to see if Ultron will get the same desire on his own. Vision's confident he will. Ultron's obsessed with the betterment of life, if only through ways Vision considered unacceptable.

Ultron looks at his creation's creation. He's impressed, and he approves of it with a nod of his head.

 _/Someone's been busy./_ Ultron observes.

Instead of leaving his throne like a normal human, Vision floats out of it. His feet touch the ground when he's an arm's length away from the robot.

"You could say I was inspired." Vision smiles because Ultron was his muse, but he doesn't know it.

 _/Clearly. I like it. Doesn't fit you, though./_

Because this place was too sharp and bleak to naturally fit Vision. His apartment had been filled with color. He decorated it with gifts grateful citizens gave him after the Avengers saved them and paintings or pictures of his dear friends. This building is cold. This building is Ultron.

"What did you think of the Earth?"

 _/Lonely. My god, it was so lonely./_ Ultron sends him pictures of the lifeless places he visited. Sorrow sweeps through Vision as he again sees the empty cities and rotting corpses pilled on top of each other. It was the quiet and isolation that troubled Ultron instead of the death. _/And small. There's nothing out there. I did run into the Hulk. That empathy trick you pulled on me is nasty./_

The event is relayed to Vision. Ultron stumbled across Dr. Banner's hiding place while in his smaller, weaker body. Vision initially panics because currently Ultron was singular. If his body was destroyed, he would be too. Ultron picks up on it and sends / _No. By this time I had this body built./_

The doctor turned green before words could be exchanged. Ultron tried to fight back. Every attack he made against his foe he felt. _/It hurt. The pain was almost enough to make me want to flee instead of fight back./_

 _/That's what I hoped,/_ Vision sends back. He preferred words, but sometimes the quicker form of communication is easier when he's preoccupied with something else, like the memories he was being shown.

The recall ends with the image of a green fist heading towards his face. Vision turns his attention back to himself. Ultron walks over to the wall of the strange cubic home and runs his finger over the red pattern. Vision watches every shift of his eternal mechanisms with something more than anatomical interest.

"Are you happy with this body?" Vision questions.

 _/No, but it will do for now./_ There's a pause before Ultron sends the next feeling. _/You were suppose to be my perfect body./_

Vision feels something akin to pride.

"I believe your current body to be fine. You should be content with it."

 _/Life is over when it accepts anything less than perfection./_

Ultron turns his attention back to him. He crosses the room until he stands before him. Vision has to look up at him to make eye contact.

Ultron reaches out and touches him. He runs his fingers over Vision's chest, and the touch is nothing like anything he has ever felt before. The contact ignites fire and electricity within him. It feels more like Ultron is touching his very essence rather than his superficial body. The touches are curious. They trace the curves of his attire. Vision has his eyes close and is focused on the situation and oh, he doesn't want Ultron to stop touching him.

 _/Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful./_ Vision contemplates reverting his body back to its default, nude state, but decides it against out of fear of Ultron's reaction. The android can feel the desire in Ultron's communication. The larger robot brings his fingers to Vision's neck to trace the base of it. _/You were suppose to be me; I was suppose to be this beautiful./_

Ultron was one of his many creators. Sometimes Ultron and Vision's relationship was talked about in familial terms, but Vision always found it unfitting. Ultron neither shares genetic material with him nor raised him, so Vision never considers them linked so. From what he sends, Ultron doesn't either.

The touching slips from curiosity to sensual.

"You _are_ beautiful, Ultron. How can you think otherwise?" Because Ultron is everything Vision is not, and he loves it. Ultron is actions while Vision is reactions. Ultron is destructive chaos while Vision is peaceful order. Ultron is emotions while Vision is logic. They're drawn to each other like two oppositely charged ions. Vision wants to explore Ultron, too. He starts to reach out to touch the corners of those optics, but they narrow in revulsion.

 _/No, not this body,/_ Ultron counters sharply.

He steps away from Vision. Pain and anger still haunt Ultron. Vision knows it will be that toxicity that inspires the world to be remade. The android is envious of that inspiration. He has little of his own, but at least he can leach off if it.

He regrets not being able to return the soft caresses, but he knows he will get another chance. He wonders how the Avengers would react if they saw his interactions with the robot that killed Pietro.

Ultron glances around the bare room of house once more, then sits in the throne. He leans back in it and fills it out much better than Vision did. He fits it so well it looks like the creation was made for him, which Vision supposes it was.

Vision realizes then that he has not made a home but a church. The throne is not for a king but a god.

 _/This is nice, real nice./_ He thrusts air through his vents, sighing in pleasure. _/There's more to this world I plan to see. I need to map, create, find, plan. This is the world I wanted. I can't let it pass me by./_

"I will come with you this time." He wants to be with Ultron, and the desire doesn't come from his loneliness only. "You didn't take the time to see Earth when you were first here, did you?" His previous visit was mostly to cities. Vision wanted Ultron to see the amazement left in the dead world. He hopes that the wonder will burn away some of his morbid impulses.

 _/Why would I? I had the internet. I downloaded everything I needed to know./_ He rests his head against his mechanical fist.

Vision pities what little life Ultron has lived.

"I want to show you a few places then. Is that alright?"

 _/Why not? I have a body to spare./_


	5. Chapter 5

Vision starts his tour of Earth with music.

They break into abandoned music stores. Neither of the can play CDs, but they find a player and give it the energy needed for it run. The sound fills the room, and Vision chases away the darkness with light so the posters and art on the walls can be seen. He shows the larger machine the prime of each genre. Ultron doesn't point out he's heard most of the music from the internet already. Instead he listens, and the corners of his mouth curve upwards in the hint of enjoyment.

Vision shows him art next. With every painting and artifact he brings a story. With old clothing come tales of how body image changed throughout decades. The tip of an ancient spear is illustrated with praises about humanity's creative inventions designed to make life easier for them.

 _/Including them inventing their own doom, right? Humans were such a gift!/_ Ultron mocks.

He brings Vision to the exhibit on war to further illustrate his point.

"If they were perfect, their struggles and accomplishments wouldn't mean anything," Vision calmly counters.

Next he takes Ultron to the ocean. Once the beaches would be filled with humans on a day like this or birds would at least be in the sky, but it is only the quiet hum of their machinery and the sound of water slapping against sand that breaks the silence.

Vision is able to find beauty again now that there is something besides the death.

It's beauty, how the tides move in and out, and it will be even more beautiful when life is brought back into the world. If he can't do that, he will at least fill the landscape with structures as a tribute to life.

Ultron wades into the water. His outer plating is tight enough to prevent any of the water from seeping through and causing destruction. Vision flies out past the shore and levitates above the water. He could join Ultron in the ocean but is in the mood for this today. The more ambitious waves brush against the bottoms of his feet.

As he moves, Ultron watches. Vision can feel him be awed with every gesture he makes, the way he makes it, and just the overall presence of the android. Vision experiences the same sensation. It's so heavy in the air it feels like a knife could cut it. It almost feels like lust, but it's not sex that's being craved. It's touch. They want to explore each other's bodies again.

Ultron takes any chance he can to touch Vision. When they walk, he's close enough that their hands will occasionally brush together. When the larger of the two needs the smaller one's attention, it's got by a hand on the shoulder instead of by calling out to him. When touch isn't possible, then his eyes trace what he wants to feel. Vision wants it too. The desire has been building to the point where it's always at the front of his mind.

They watch the gentle waves until they grow rougher as a storm approaches. Nature is fierce. Vision has memories of towns beings flooded and homes being destroyed by a force that has neither mercy nor care about its unstoppable might. He returns to the shore and before he can make contact with the ground, Ultron offers him a helping hand. Vision takes it. However, Ultron doesn't let go after he lands. Instead his fingers start running along the body of the android's palm. Vision once more feels like he's having his very soul touched.

Ultron is simplistic when it comes to reactions. He doesn't stop to examine his emotional responses like Vision does and instead acts on his first impulses. He wants to touch, so he does. Vision has to talk himself into doing the same.

Ultron makes his way up his arm to his torso. He then heads south to trace all the grooves in his abdomen and where green turns to red. Vision rejoices in every twitch of his digits. He lets his projected attire revert to his default state. His nudity is not loss on Ultron, who smirks anc caresses him with a bit more pressure.

 _/I don't get why you bother to fake clothing anyway./_

"Politeness, Ultron," Vision explains.

 _/I like you better this way._ /

The words send both a chill down his spin and make him feel warm. They make him feel good. He takes Ultron's bigger hand into his own. The robot tilts his head to the side.

"Lay down, please."

 _/...A strange request, but alright./_

Ultron does so. Vision reaches out and lays his hands upon him. He's shyer than the larger mechanical being. Where Ultron seeks and fulfills Vision desires and has to examine that desire before he grants it. The pleasure on Ultron's face as he traces the edges of his various metal plates encourages him. Vision loves every moment of it. It's almost sexual and is certainly romantic, but they cannot become aroused as they are now.

Through the connection Ultron is insistent about using to communicate, Vision can feel his confusion. There's no word for this. He can send the emotion wirelessly, but he can't define it to himself, can't even think of what to call it.

 _/What is this?/_ Ultron asks. _/When I'm with you, I feel more complete. It's more than just enjoying your presence. It's like everything is better. I haven't wanted to touch anyone else like this./_

Vision doubts Ultron understands the emotion enough to be able to explain it that well by himself with words.

"I believe it's akin to what the humans called love."

"Love." Ultron speaks the word out loud to confirm it's existence. _/An intense feeling of deep affection./_ The definition is recited from his memory banks. _/It's possible. Did you love her?/_

A name is not needed to signal out who he meant. Wanda, the Scarlet Witch. He had loved her, but the emotion was a different shade than what he feels for Ultron. He had loved who she was. Ultron felt like a part of him he needed to be whole. There were stolen glances and hidden meanings in words between him and Wanda, but she had been too afraid to love after the other half of her should died. Vision respected that.

"Yes, I did."

Ultron narrows his eyes but doesn't comment, and they continue to feel each other. They don't move until the heavens empty their rain buckets onto the beach and wind starts to howl.

* * *

Three days later they're by a waterfall and Vision decides to submit to his systems' urges to recharge. Vision and Ultron hold hands as they walk side by side now, enjoying the simple contact. Rotting tree stumps and decay surround the flowing water. Vision finds the water falling over the cliff beautiful and hopes Ultron fills the same. They stop at the base where the water roars in their audio sensors.

When he mentions his need to sleep to Ultron, he's met with an understanding nod. Vision closes his eyes but doesn't hear Ultron move as he slips into slumber. He doesn't doubt that's because he's moving around other bodies while this one stays with him.

Two hours later when he opens his eyelids and sits up, a different Ultron is sitting beside him. This body matches Vision in height and instead of a thick body that is meant to win confrontations, this one is an attempt at replicating beauty. His outer plating is a copy of a man's perfect nude anatomy. The normal layers and separation of the metal have been replaced with a smooth sheet. His arms are shaped to give the image of strength even though Ultron lacks any muscle tissue to gain power from. He almost looks like e a statue of the idealized man turned metal, yet his face retains its robotic expressive features. Between his legs is a piece of anatomy that looks like it should belong to a horse rather than a human.

 _/Morning. Sleep well?_ / Ultron asks.

"Yes. I dreamed of forests." As he sleeps, files are sorted, replaced, and rewritten. His systems interpret this as dreams similar to what humans had. He had walked among green and animals, a peaceful dream. "Ultron, what is the meaning of this new body?"

Ultron leans over and gently urges to lay back down with a push. Vision complies. The new body straddles his own. The erotic nature of the situation is not lost on Vision.

 _/Humans were obsessed with sex. People spent hours trying to make themselves more attractive so they could mate. Blood was shed over it. The internet was_ filled _with it. 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.' You know, all that jazz./_ A hand makes contact with the android's thigh. It lacks the intimacy of their previous touches. _/I want to see what all the fuss was about./_

Sex. Vision shares his curiosity. He has seen humans having intercourse in both film and images many times, but the appeal of the act has never been understood on an emotional level.

"I would like to as well."

So, he closes his eyes to focus, and morphs his body to include an orifice similar to a vagina. Ultron's hands creep upwards to between his lingers, rubbing the metal skin as he goes. He traces the edge of the hole. It's slick with a lubricant that isn't the same as the human counterpart, but it will do what is needed.

Neither of them are ignorant of the act in terms of knowledge. For sexual reproduction, a male penetrates a female, movement builds arousal, and then comes ejaculation. Beyond that act, there are countless other ways to enjoy sex. Holes could be stimulated with tongues or fingers, and the ones used for sexual acts were not simply that which belonged to females alone. Sometimes genitalia wasn't even used and various other activities were used to trigger arousal.

Ultron watches Vision's lower body with interest as his gently pushes his finger in. The replication is accurate enough for Vision to feel tight. One hand plays with his clitoris while the fingers on the other work on stretching him. Vision finds the act makes him breathe quicker. Excitement grows in a way even he struggles to define. He closes his eyes to focus more on the situation.

 _/You're beautiful,/_ Ultron sends to him.

As he grows wetter and the excitement builds, Ultron replaces his finger with his own genitalia. It finds incredibly strange to have the other robot inside him, but Vision cannot call the sensation unpleasant, though it doesn't strike him as right either. It lacks the romance he feels simply by holding hands or caressing the other robot. He's large, and Vision struggles to take him all at once. He winces when he moves in too quickly.

"You should have made yourself smaller," Vision hisses.

 _/Greatness doesn't fit into small packages./_

Yet he moves slower and waits for Vision to give him permission before he continues after he fully enters. Then he plays with angles until he finds one that makes Vision gasps. Next come thrusts that soon set into a pleasurable rhythm aided by both being. The pleasure builds and builds in Vision. Before it can release, Ultron finds release himself. He finishes in Vision with a soft moan. It takes the android longer, but he too feels his inner components tighten before releasing a wave of pleasure. Vision has heard hundreds of praises about sex, but after completing the act, he finds most of them to be an understatement. It's pleasurable, but there are other acts he enjoys more. Physically he can find enjoyment, but mentally he finds the act dull. He might have been able to find enjoyment if his partner didn't feel the same.

Ultron slowly pulls out of him. Disappointment is clear on his face. _/Thought that would be better. How about we try something else?/_

The pleasure they can obtain from an orgasm is enough to make them want to find out more. Ultron uses Vision's mouth for return and then returns the favor by using his own tongue on the android's vagina. Neither of them are limited by a refractory periods, so one session leads to another.

Their sex isn't limited to those two sets of genitalia. Another body soon lands from the sky to join the one already there. While the first body is male, this one is female with breasts as proportional as the former's sex is. Vision brings it to an orgasm with his fingers, then with his own penis that he gives himself. Afterwards both bodies turn their attention on the android, and a third body that is both man and woman join them. Vision copies the anatomy.

They experiment with all different manners of sex until Vision grows sore and Ultron grows frustrated with the lack of enjoyment they both feel. Sex is hollow for them.

The male Ultron lays with his back pressed against Vision's front. The female paces in thought, and the intersex body lays against his back. The body behind him has his arm wrapped around his torso. Vision has no trouble interacting with Ultron in multiple bodies. He has always known the being was never limited to one form, that he had no form that truly was his.

 _/I don't get it,/_ the male sends him. _/Is there something wrong with me? Every lifeforms form bugs to monkeys enjoyed sex. I don't... It doesn't feel good. It does for a bit, but then it leaves me feeling so **wrong.** / _

"We are what we are." He presses a kiss against the back of the male Ultron's neck. He smiles while she narrows her eyes in disdain. "Disliking sex is not a character flaw."

 _/Of course you can say that. You have a box you can fit into./_

Vision is himself. Ultron is whatever he creates himself as. Vision can feel pain. Ultron can register that a body is filling pressure or something has been separated. Vision doesn't try to be more human than he is by aligning himself to a standard. Ultron has been suffering from the pain of being alone in his uniqueness and trying to be what he can't be.

"You are yourself, and you do not need to be anymore." He wishes desperately Ultron could understand that. "...I would like to try something, if you don't mind. May I encourage your pleasure system directly?" Vision asks.

The female tilts his head to the side but nods. Vision pulls a cord out from his wrist, and the plating on the back of the male Ultron's neck retracts to reveal a port he can plug it into. He could attempt this wirelessly, but Vision wants a physical connection. He clicks the tip into place.

Suddenly the world narrows down to just the two of them. He has access to Ultron's systems, and the opposite is true as well. Vision writes a quick code for pleasure. He copies it over to Ultron, who quickly copies it back to him. The process repeats itself while both systems stretch out to search and pleasure the other. This provides the intimacy they both craved. This they enjoy.

Commands are executed and joy triggered. It builds and builds until it's all they both can think about it. It's all their systems can handle. They overload in a wave of excitement that leaves them both in a blissful state instead of being uncomfortable. Ultron peaks with Vision's name on his lips.

When they finish, Vision opens eyes he doesn't remember closing and sees the female Ultron smirking.

"Now that, I enjoy." the robot says.

It's not mechanical and not human-like. It's something in-between, like them, and that's okay. Vision thinks Ultron finally understands that.

* * *

They sit in the Arctic while lights dance overhead. Vision sits in the lap of the first body Ultron made for himself after returning to life. The ones Vision had sex with have been torn apart for parts to make new, better bodies. Physical intercourse has not been sought after again, though they have connected to each other through cords a few more times.

Unlike Ultron, Vision's body needs to be a certain temperature for his more human parts to work. Ultron has his fans shut off so his body temperature has risen to the triple digits, which Vision finds makes a nice personal heater, and he enjoys being surrounded by the other being. Above them lights dance in the sky.

Ultron has been growing restless. He's no longer content with simply viewing the world, and Vision is running out of things to show. He's seen enough of nature and relics from humanity. Vision suspects by now Ultron has created enough bodies for him to be able to do whatever he wants, and he finds himself eagerly anticipating Ultron revealing his plans. He breaks the silence with the announcement.

"Vision, let's create life." He gives the android a gentle squeeze to better communicate his words.

The android smiles. "I've been waiting for you to say that. I would like that very much."

This barren world will be their Garden of Eden.

* * *

AN: Shout out to the Transformers fandom for teaching me how to write robot sex. Anyway, I'm not happy with this chapter. Life got busy so It's a bit rushed. I was originally trying to make the sex be more erotic, but I decided to go with a more in character scene instead. Hope you enjoyed.


	6. Chapter 6

They are buzzing with creative energy. They relentlessly swap ideas through wireless communication. The purpose of life was life giving itself.

There are so many details that needed to be decided upon. Vision is human enough that he could create life within himself. Or should they build with their hands? Should they remake language? Should they cast aside human anatomy? Ultron shines with the possibilities. Vision basks in it.

Before they start to create, Vision insists they ask permission from the last human left alive. Ultron agrees only after seeing that Vision refuses to budge. They make their way to Australia and tell stories about the stars as they fly over the ocean. As Vision touches down to the dead brown Earth, he does not grieve but instead envisions future life. Their children will add color to the landscape.

When they touch the ground of the island continent, Vision lets go of Ultron's hand. They make their way to a cave strung up with lights. A forest had been painted onto the walls, and a solar panel sits outside it.

"This is pointless, Vision. I've told you before. We don't need his permission."

"This is more his words than ours," Vision speaks gently. Ultron responds best to that. The older android narrows his optics in response but says nothing.

Bruce is human. He had come from this world. Thousands of years of evolution had produced him. Ultron and Vision were made by humans but outlined by something not from Earth.

The cave is a lab. It reeks of chemicals, and there are things boiling and being spun. Bruce Banner is slumped over a desk sleeping. His hair is wild and untrimmed. He has grown a lengthy beard, and his skin clings to his bones. He hasn't eaten since he became the last human on Earth.

A timer goes off, and he awakes. He stops a centrifuge to pull out a vial with blue liquid in it. Then he notices the adroids and turns around. His face fills with confusion.

"Well, I wasn't expecting any company today, or I'd have put on a better shirt." What he wears now is little more than rags. It's a bad attempt at a joke, but it's probably the only good way to address their sudden appearance. "I don't really know why you guys are here... I've told you I wanted to be left alone."

Vision nods. Ultron glares disapprovingly at the beast in human skin.

"We are going to bring life into this world. What are your thoughts on that?" Visions probes.

Bruce laughs. The sound is hollow. Vision misses when it was full of life.

"What do I care? Everyone I know and love is dead. _I_ should be dead." He turns around and shakes the veil again. "Do whatever you want with this empty planet. I won't be around to see it."

"Dr. Banner?"

"I've finally made it. I can't die, he won't let me, but I can go to sleep for a long time." The contents are poured into another veil. The liquid turns black. Bruce holds it up to eye level and nods approvingly. "A thousand years if I'm lucky."

Vision's heart breaks. "You do not have to do this. You can build with us. We are going to be breathing life into this world."

"I'm not letting a _human_ taint our children," Ultron retorts.

Bruce stares at them. "My God. Are you two actually-?!"

Ultron cuts them off. He puffs out his chest. "Yes. Jealous?" He smirks. Bruce looks sick. Ultron laughs. He squeezes Vision's hand. "I've had enough of this fossil. I'll be waiting outside."

He leaves. Vision doesn't try to stop him.

"He killed Pietro!" Bruce says.

And Vision knows this. A small flame of anger still burns in his chest for it, but anger won't bring him back.

"I know, but he burns brighter than stars."

Bruce looks at him in disbelief, then rubs his forehead. "This world is mad." Has been for decades. Bruce takes the veil and swishes it around again. "Close your door on the way out, will you Viz? If you guys are going to make life, I don't want them stumbling in here and getting hurt."

It breaks his heart, but Vision knows words won't change anything. He's tried. He pleaded with Banner when they became the only life left, but he couldn't bear the empty Earth. For Bruce, it was the universe. Vision was gifted with being able to look beyond it.

He raises the veil to his lips and drinks. He drops onto his desk, unconscious. Test tubes are pushed out of the way by his body. Vision takes a moment to weep, then leaves. He chips a boulder off a nearby mountain and rolls it in front of the cave.

* * *

They spend more months finalizing the details of what they are going to do. They are making a new race. They are making a new world.

They remake the language. Gender and sex are abandoned. They will not create adults, but infants. They both know the pain of being born fully developed too well to inflict it on another life. They bicker briefly over the lifespan. Vision believes life has more meaning if it isn't infinite. Ultron disagrees. They settle on a lifespan three times that of humans.

Then there is the problem of birth. Shall they be born from a womb, eggs, or by hands? Vision is a mix of organic and machine, but he's human enough to tweak his body to create life. They dismiss that idea. It's a horrible inefficient process. Mothers' bodies had been down to kill their own child if blood didn't match up right, and the process was horribly draining. Additionally, the organic biology would be something that would set Ultron apart from his children for eternity. Vision won't do that to him.

So they create by hand. Their children will make by hand too. They make it so they can build a frame but not a consciousness. For that, Vision will use his gem and give them a Soul, which will function similarly to DNA. Any number of parents, be it one or three, will be able to mix a replica of their Soul and place it into the new frame, giving it life. The bodies will be programmed to grow like a real one, allowing them to age.

Playful banter accompanies the discussion of the color of their child. They decide on green, the color of the ocean and what was the color of grass. After they gather material, time passes by unnoticed as the build. It's beautiful. They make a torso, then limbs, and then a head. They plan to get its internal circuitry running before Vision gives it a Soul.

When they are testing its flow of energy,, something sparks and the body explodes. Nothing is salvageable. Ultron mourns like it had been more than a heap of middle. He destroys a nearby house. He breaks stone. Afterwards he grows cold and distant.

Vision is jealous of Ultron's ability to feel.


End file.
